The locations on the standard British version of the board game Monopoly are set in London and were selected in 1935 by Victor Watson, managing director of John Waddington Limited. Watson became interested in the board game after his son Norman had tried the Parker Brothers original US version and recommended the company produce a board for the domestic market. [1] [2] He took his secretary Marjory Phillips on a day-trip from the head offices in Leeds to London and the pair looked for suitable locations to use. [3]
The London version of the game was successful, and in 1936 it was exported to Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, [4] becoming the de facto standard board in the British Commonwealth. [5] It became such a success in the UK that Waddingtons ran Monopoly competitions in locations depicted on the board; one such contest was held on platforms 3 and 4 of Fenchurch Street station. [6] The resulting board has been perennially popular around the world, with the chosen locations becoming familiar to millions. [7] Tourists from as far as Canada, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have been known to visit specific locations in London because of their presence on the Monopoly board. [5] In 2003, Watson's grandson (also called Victor Watson) unveiled a plaque at what is now a branch of The Co-operative Bank, the original location of the Angel, Islington, to commemorate the elder Watson's contribution to British popular culture. [8] [9]
The set has been celebrated by the Monopoly pub crawl, which attempts to visit all the locations on the board and have a drink at a pub in each one. [10] [11] The relative wealth of the various places has changed slightly. Whitechapel Road is now the cheapest (as opposed to Old Kent Road) but Mayfair remains the most expensive; in 2016 an estimate by loan provider West One showed the average house price on each was £590,000 and £3,150,000 respectively. [12]
The final list mixes well-known landmarks with relatively obscure locations. There appears to be no specific motivation for how they were chosen; when the travel writer Tim Moore searched the Waddingtons' company archives he did not uncover any relevant documentation. [13]
The light blue set are all part of the London Inner Ring Road, this section of which opened in 1756 as the New Road. From west to east the road runs as Euston Road to King's Cross, then Pentonville Road to the Angel, Islington. [14] The three streets in the pink (or purple) set all converge at Trafalgar Square, [15] [16] and the red set are all adjacent to each other as part of the A4 road, a major road running west from Central London. [17] The orange set is related to locations dealing with the police and law. [18] The yellow set has an entertainment and nightlife-based theme; Leicester Square is known for cinemas and theatres, Coventry Street for clubs and restaurants, and Piccadilly for hotels. [19] The streets in the green set have a background in retail and commercial properties. [20]
The stations were the four London termini of the London and North Eastern Railway, principally King's Cross, which served Waddingtons' home town of Leeds. Original Monopoly boards manufactured before the Transport Act 1947 and the nationalisation of the railways use the name "L.N.E.R." on each title deed card; later boards showed "British Railways" instead. [21]
Some elements of the US board were unchanged, leading to apparent idiosyncrasies. The police officer on Go To Jail is wearing a New York City Police Department hat, not a Metropolitan Police helmet, while the car on Free Parking has a Whitewall spare tyre, which was uncommon in the UK. The term Community Chest was a welfare support system present in the Great Depression and has not been used in Britain. [22]
Free Parking | Strand £220 | Chance ? | Fleet Street £220 | Trafalgar Square £240 | Fenchurch Street station £200 | Leicester Square £260 | Coventry Street £260 | Water Works £150 | Piccadilly £280 | Go To Jail |
Vine Street £200 | MONOPOLY | Regent Street £300 | ||||||||
Marlborough Street £180 | Oxford Street £300 | |||||||||
Community Chest | Community Chest | |||||||||
Bow Street £180 | Bond Street £320 | |||||||||
Marylebone station £200 | Liverpool Street station £200 | |||||||||
Northumberland Avenue £160 | Chance ? | |||||||||
Whitehall £140 | Park Lane £350 | |||||||||
Electric Company £150 | Super Tax (pay £100) | |||||||||
Pall Mall £140 | Mayfair £400 | |||||||||
In Jail/Just Visiting | Pentonville Road £120 | Euston Road £100 | Chance ? | The Angel, Islington £100 | King's Cross station £200 | Income Tax (pay £200) | Whitechapel Road £60 | Community Chest | Old Kent Road £60 |
Colour | Image | Name | Value | House price (game) | House price (2016) [12] | Location | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brown [lower-alpha 1] | Old Kent Road | £60 | £30 | £813,000 | SE1 SE14 | The only location south of the River Thames; also the only one both outside and more than one tube stop away from the Circle line. [24] | ||
Whitechapel Road | £60 | £30 | £590,000 | E1 | ||||
Station | King's Cross station | £200 | N/A | £782,000 | NW1 | Principal services: Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Waverley, Sunderland, Newcastle, York, Leeds | ||
Light blue | The Angel, Islington | £100 | £50 | £866,000 | N1 | The Angel is a former pub, not a street. It was a Lyons Corner House in 1935 and is reportedly where Watson and Phillips stopped for lunch. [25] | ||
Euston Road | £100 | £50 | £1,080,000 | W1 NW1 | ||||
Pentonville Road | £120 | £60 | £866,000 | N1 | ||||
Magenta | Pall Mall | £140 | £70 | £1,380,000 | SW1 | |||
Whitehall | £140 | £70 | £1,390,000 | SW1 | ||||
Northumberland Avenue | £160 | £80 | £1,280,000 | SW1 | ||||
Station | Marylebone station | £200 | N/A | £1,100,000 | NW1 | Principal services: Birmingham Snow Hill, Oxford, Sheffield Victoria (historic) | ||
Orange | Bow Street | £180 | £90 | £1,280,000 | WC2 | |||
Great Marlborough Street (listed as Marlborough Street) | £180 | £90 | £2,480,000 | W1 | There is no actual Marlborough Street in this part of London; the square on the board was misnamed after the Marlborough Street Magistrates Court. [26] | |||
Vine Street | £200 | £100 | £1,700,000 | W1 | The shortest street on the board; it is 70 feet (21 m) long. Since Vine Street has no pubs, a typical Monopoly pub crawl visits the connecting Swallow Street instead. [27] | |||
Red | Strand | £220 | £110 | £2,160,000 | WC2 | |||
Fleet Street | £220 | £110 | £1,080,000 | EC4 | ||||
Trafalgar Square | £240 | £120 | £1,280,000 | WC2 | ||||
Station | Fenchurch Street station | £200 | N/A | £1,430,000 | EC3 | Principal services: Southend Central | ||
Yellow | Leicester Square | £260 | £130 | £1,280,000 | WC2 | |||
Coventry Street | £260 | £130 | £1,900,000 | W1 | ||||
Piccadilly | £280 | £140 | £2,000,000 | W1 | ||||
Green | Regent Street | £300 | £150 | £1,700,000 | W1 | |||
Oxford Street | £300 | £150 | £1,300,000 | W1 | ||||
Bond Street | £320 | £160 | £806,000 | W1 | There is no actual Bond Street; it is split into New Bond Street to the north and Old Bond Street to the south. [28] | |||
Station | Liverpool Street station | £200 | N/A | £784,000 | EC2 | Principal services: Norwich, Cambridge, Stansted Airport, Southend Victoria | ||
Dark blue | Park Lane | £350 | £175 | £1,700,000 | W1 | |||
Mayfair | £400 | £200 | £3,150,000 | W1 | Not a street, but a location in London (between Piccadilly, Regent Street, Oxford Street and Park Lane). The most expensive square on the board, and in reality. [29] |
Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a salary every time they pass "Go" and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs, and related media exist.
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster in the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
Mayfair is an area in London, England and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in the world.
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for the British civil service and government, and as the geographic name for the surrounding area.
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from Mayfair to the east. The road has a number of historically important properties and hotels and has been one of the most sought after streets in London, despite being a major traffic thoroughfare.
Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary of the Cities of London and Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was named.
Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family seat of the Dukes of Grafton, who had become major property owners in the area during the mid-19th century.
Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcelinga Stræt. It is now part of the A2, a major road from London to Dover. The road was important in Roman times linking London to the coast at Richborough and Dover via Canterbury. It was a route for pilgrims in the Middle Ages as portrayed in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, when Old Kent Road was known as Kent Street. The route was used by soldiers returning from the Battle of Agincourt.
A pub crawl is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session.
The Angel, Islington, is a historic landmark and a series of buildings that have stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road in Islington, London, England. The land originally belonged to the Clerkenwell Priory and has had various properties built on it since the 16th century. An inn on the site was called the "Angel Inn" by 1614, and the crossing became generally known as "the Angel". The site was bisected by the New Road, which opened in 1756, and properties on the site have been rebuilt several times up to the 20th century. The corner site gave its name to Angel tube station, opened in 1901, and the surrounding Angel area of London.
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge.
Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century, which in turn is derived from the Italian pallamaglio, literally "ball-mallet".
Mr. Monopoly is the mascot of the board game of Monopoly. He is depicted as a portly old man with a moustache who wears a morning suit with a bowtie and top hat. In large parts of the world he is known, additionally or exclusively, as the Monopoly Man, "Rich Uncle" Pennybags, Milburn Pennybags, or the Monopoly Guy. He also appears in the related games Rich Uncle, Advance to Boardwalk, Free Parking, Don't Go to Jail, Monopoly City, Monopoly Junior, and Monopoly Deal.
Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street.
Vine Street is a street in Westminster, London, running from Swallow Street, parallel to Regent Street and Piccadilly. It is now a dead end that was shortened from a longer road in the early 18th century owing to the building of Regent Street.
Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland between 1874 and 1876, and on part of the parallel Northumberland Street.
Waddingtons was a British manufacturer of card and board games. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and the manager, actor and playwright Wilson Barrett, under the name Waddingtons Limited. The name was changed in 1905 to John Waddington Limited, then Waddington's House of Games, then Waddington Games, and finally just Waddingtons.
The board game Monopoly has its origin in the early 20th century. The earliest known version, known as The Landlord's Game, was designed by Elizabeth Magie and first patented in 1904, but existed as early as 1902. Magie, a follower of Henry George, originally intended The Landlord's Game to illustrate the economic consequences of Ricardo's Law of economic rent and the Georgist concepts of economic privilege and land value taxation. A series of board games was developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land and the development of that land. By 1933, a board game already existed much like the modern version of Monopoly that has been sold by Parker Brothers and related companies through the rest of the 20th century, and into the 21st. Several people, mostly in the midwestern United States and near the East Coast of the United States, contributed to its design and evolution.
Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east in Stepney. The road is part of the historic Roman road from London to Colchester, now the A11.
Victor Hugo Watson was a British businessman and philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of Waddingtons from 1977 to 1993. Waddingtons employed over 3,000 people, mainly in Leeds, and were involved in printing, packaging, games and playing cards. He was sometimes known as "Mr Monopoly".
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